Instrument for tufting mattresses or the like



Sept. 25, 1934. J. E. ZOFNASS INSTRUMENT FOR TUFTING MATTRESSES OR THE LIKE I Filed Feb. 13 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 25, 1934. J zO ss 1,974,887

INSTRUMENT FOR TUFTING MATTRESSES OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 13, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Sept. 25, I934 vuNrrEo STA INSTRUMENT FORTUFTING MATTRESSES on rm: LIKE Jesse E. Zofnass, Boston, Mass, assign'or to New York Mattress Company, Boston,

poration of I Massachusetts Mass, a cor- Application February 13, 1933, SerialNo. 656,465

2 Claims; (01. 112-3) This invention relates to the tufting. of m.

tresses or similar resiliently compressible-objects. After the various parts of a mattress have been.

assembled, it is the practice to tie the ticking of both faces together at suitably spaced points, by meansof thread or the like, so as to enhance the resiliency of. the mattress, as well as to minimize the chances for. localized distortion therein. The mattress thus becomes indented at spaced points in both its surfaces, and this makes for an ornamental, tufted appearance. This work has heretofore been done while the-mattress was supported on a stationary table. While thussupported, widely spaced stitches were made through the mattress body with an elongated sewing needle. After a number of stitches were thus formed at spaced points through the mat tress body, the operator would cut the thread. connecting the stitches, pull hard on the ends of each'stitch, and then tie them together, thereby locally compressing the mattress and forming indentations in its surfaces. Aside from thefact that such work requires skilled operators, it is time-consuming, expensive, and, unless carefully done, results in a non-uniform tufted effect.

The chief object of the present invention is to facilitate the production of tufted mattresses of the foregoing type and to enable unskilled operators to perform the work quickly and perfectly with a. minimum of exertion. In accordance with the. present invention, the mattress is first compressed substantially uniformly between separable, locked frames having openings therethrough, through which the mattress body is exposed so as to permit an operator to tie the tick-- ing of both faces together at the appropriate points. While thus compressed, loops of thread whose ends are untied are passed through the body of the mattress, whereupon tightly together with little, if any, tension, and the mattress is unlocking and separating the frames. Upon expansion of the mattress, indentations are formed where the ticking of both faces has been. tied togethenso. as tofurnishthe desired tufted appearance- I have providedanoveland simple instrument for passing a loop of thread. through a mattress body ina. single stroke. ment has a handle portion from which. project a pair of spaced, elongated needles'having eyes through which. a. suitable length of thread can be passed in the form untied endsof. the loop therethrough, and,'while the ends are tied then permitted to expand by The instruof a loop.. The needles serve to pierce the mattress body and to carry the the needles are going through the mattress body, suitable means carried by the instrument hold the bend of the loop against the mattress, thereby. pr'eventing. slippage or displacement of the thread. 1 I

Withthe foregoing and other features and objects in view,..the invention will now be described. ingreater, detail in conjunction with'the accompanyingdrawings, wherein V Figure 1 shows in perspective the upper and lower mattress-compressing frames separated from eachv other.

,.Figures- 2, 3 and 4 represent transverse sections through. the frames at various stages of looking, with, a mattress inserted therebctween.

Figurefi is a side view .of the locked frames tilted to an. upright position.

Figure 6' shows in perspective a lever for facilitating the compressionof the mattress and the locking.of..the,.frames.

Figure 7 illustrates in perspective a finished,

tufted-mattress. v

Figure ,8 is a front yieyv, partly in section, of the instrument, for passing a loop of thread through the body of the mattress.

.Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 aresectional details showing a loop of thread at different stages of formationin the body of the mattress.

Figures 1?. and 14 represent sections through the instrument on the lines 13-43 and 14-14, 5; respectively, of Figure 8.

Referring nowindetail first to Figure 1 of the drawings, 1 represents the lower frame, which is of generally rectangular form and of a size capable of supporting thereon a mattress 2, as shown in Figure. 2..v The frame includes slats 3 extending in: spaced, parallel relation from one side of the frame to the other. The ends of the frame are shown provided with trunnions 4 rotatable in. bearings 5 afforded by standards 6'. The upper frame '7 is constructed like the lower frame and, wheniseparated from: the" lower frame, as shown in Figure. 1,, may be suspended near each corner as on ropes 8.- These ropesare shown; passing over pulleys 9 and carrying at their upper endsv weights. 10 serving. to raise the upper frame sufficiently to permit an operator to place a mattress on the lower frame .withoutinterference by the upper one. Each rope 8 is shown with a: hook 11' at its. lower extremity loosely engaging in: a staple l2 affixed near each corner of the upper frame.. The pulleys 9 may be supported on suit-. able'ha'ngers" (not shown) anchored to the ceiling or wallsof the room. in

-Having placed a: mattress 2 on the lower frame,

as shown in Figure 2, the operator pulis down the upper frame '7, releases it from the hooks 11, and proceeds to lock the upper frame to the lower one. To permit such locking of the frames, the upper frame may have swivelly secured near each of its corners a hook 13 adapted to engage in an eye member 14 secured near each corner or the lower frame. The frames may first be locked on their left-hand side, as shown in Figure 2, with the upper frame assuming an inclined position, whereupon, the right-hand side of the upper frame member 7 must be forced downwardly against the mattress to compress the mattress uniformly throughout before complete locking of the frames can be effected. Inasmuch as considerable. force is required so to compress a mattress, suitable means may be provided to make this easy for the operator. Thus, as shown in Figure 1, each end of the lower frame maybe provided with an upstanding bar 15 whose upper end is provided with an aperture 16. The upper frame need be forced downwardly by the operator only to the point when the aperture 16 is above the frame, whereupon, a lever 17. having a cam-shaped lower end portion 18 and a pin 19 projecting from the end of said portion may be brought to bear against the upper frame. This is done by inserting thepin 19 into the aperture 16 so that the portion 18 engages the'upper frame, and then pulling on the lever 17 inv the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 7. The lever 17 thus affords the mechanical advantage of a wedge and enables the right-hand side of i the frames to be brought together and looked, as

shown in Figure 4, without the exertion of an undue amount of effort by the operator. The mattress confined in compressed condition between the two frames may be tilted to the vertical position shown in Figure 5, so as to permit easy access to all exposed regions of the mattress by the operator.

The operator can then proceed to pass loops of thread having untied ends at properly spaced intervals through the body of the compressed mattress exposed through the frames. The instrument for so doing, as shown in Figure 8, comprises a handle 20 to which is afiixed in spaced, parallel relation elongated needles 21, as by setscrews 22 entering into its sides, as best shown in Figure 14. The handlemay be cylindrical, as shown, or of any other suitable shape. The inactive upper end portions of the needles are slidably received within suitable openings formed in the handle, wherefore, should the needles break in service, they may be removed from the handle and replaced by new ones. The needles may be of substantially cylindrical cross-section, excepting near their sharp lower ends, whereat they have enlarged and flattened out portions 23, with eyes 24 formed therethrough. Bridging the needles immediately above their enlarged portions 23, is a plate 25, which is apertured so that theneedles pass loosely therethrough, as shown in Figure 13, and which is reciprocatable on the needles between their enlarged portions 23 and the lower end of thehandle 20. The plate 25 is carried by the lower endofa rod 26, which passes through a central hollow 27 formed in the handle and thence through an opening 28 formed as a continuation of the hollow 27 through the upper end portion of the handle but of sufficiently restricted size sothat a tight bearing 29 for the rod is formed in the handle. The rod 26 is surrounded by an elongated compression spring 39, which reacts between the bearing 29 and the plate 25. It is thus seen that the rod is free to reciprocate and that by moving the plate 25 toward the handle, as is the case when the needles pass through a mattress body, the spring 29 is put under compression. The plate 25 also serves as a means for holding the lower end portions of the needles in the desired spaced relationship.

Thread, cord, tape, twine, or other suitable strand material 30 is passed through the eyes 24 of the needles to form a loop, as shown in Figure 8. With the mattress confined and compressed between the frames, as shown in Figure 5, the operator takes hold of the handle 20 and forces the needles 21 through the body of the mattress, which, as shown in Figure 9, may include the ticking 31, felt or batting 32, and compression springs 33 arranged in separate cloth cells or compartments 34. The mattress may, of course, be constructed in any other conventional way.

The plate 25 holds the bend 35 of the loop against the face of the mattress as. the needles are proceeding through the body of the mattress, thereby preventing slippage or displacement of the thread. This holding of the thread against displacement is made possible by the compression which the spring 27 undergoes as the plate 25. and the. rod

26 are forced upwardly by the downward movement of the needles through the body of the mattress. When the needles have proceeded through the mattress body sufiiciently to have the ends of the loop come out of the eyes of the needles, as shown in Figure 10, the handle 20 may be pulled so as to retract the needles from the mattress body, thereby leaving a loop of thread with its untied ends hanging loose, as shown in Figure 11. These ends are tied together tightly into a knot 37, as shown in Figure 12, so that when the frames are unlocked and separated and the,

mattress permitted to expand, indentations will be formed in the surfaces of the mattress where the ticking has been tied together and the tufted appearance shown in Figure '7 will result;

The upper frame 7 may carry permanent marks at the desired places, to guide the operator as to where loops of thread are to be passed through the mattress body. After the desired number of loops have been passedthrough the mattress body held in confinement between the frames, as shown,

in Figure 5, the ends of. all the loops may betied, whereupon the frames may be unlocked and separated so as to permit removal of themattress. It is preferable that the mattress be compressed substantially to the limit of its resiliency between the compressing frames, as this not only enhances the tufted effect subsequently realized, but makes it easy to pass the needles through the mattress body, as there is no resiliency therein to oppose the pressure exerted thereon by the plate 25, which holds the bend of the thread loop against slippage. The thread may, of course, be readily pre-cut to lengths such that the ends of the loops formed therefrom and passed through the mattress body may be easily tied together into knots by the operator.

I claim: I

1. An instrument of the class described, comprising a handle, a pair of elongated needles extending in spaced, parallel relation from said handle and having eyes adjacent to their piercing ends through which a thread may be passed to form a loop, a plate reciprocally mounted between said needles and adapted to bear on the bend of a thread loop as it is being passed by said needles through a body, and a compression spring arranged in back of said plate and in between said between said needles and extending in parallelism therewith, one end of which rod carries said plate and the other end portion of which rod passesthrough said handle, and a compression spring encompassingsaid rod and arranged to react between said plate and said handle, whereby when a thread loop is being passed by said needle through a body, said spring becomes compressed to exert yielding pressure on said plate as the latter bears on the bend of the thread loop.

JESSE E. ZOFNASS. 

